Made evident by the fact next to none of the 26,000 inside the Rogers Centre left their seat before full-time Saturday, TFC’s first league win in 234 days represented a potential turning point for those who have been with the club since day one.

“It did feel like something more,” TFC winger John Bostock said following his first MLS match. “On paper it’s a league win, but for us it’s a starting point.

“Last week we were unlucky not to come away from Vancouver with anything. We felt like if just got one win under our belt we could really gain some momentum.”

It bears repeating one last time: Saturday’s result snapped a 15-match league winless run dating back to last year, a streak that’s only slightly worse than the nine consecutive losses the Reds started 2012 with.

Compare it to whatever you will — Phil Kessel’s goal drought, the Raptors losing 12 of 13 this season, the Toronto Blue Jays failing to make a post-season appearance in two decades — Toronto FC’s MLS winless run was as bad as it gets even for a city that’s used to watching teams falter on an annual basis.

So when referee Fotis Bazakos looked to his watch one final time Saturday, there’s a reason the jubilation seemed a bit over the top for three simple points.

“Yeah, yeah! Why not?” Robert Earnshaw said of post-match celebrations that were more akin to a Cup final. “We wanted to celebrate because it was important for us to start winning games early.”

Earnshaw, whose goal from the penalty spot in the 21st minute proved the difference, said he’s just starting to understand exactly how low TFC’s been in its seven years of existence.

“I was told everything, but you don’t quite realize it until you come and get a win like (Saturday’s),” he said. “It really hits home a bit. It’s a big lift for everyone — the staff and the players. It’s huge, it’s huge. It was important and it just gives us that extra confidence on top of our hard work.”

While Saturday’s win over Sporting K.C. took the entire league by surprise, a win in Montreal in four day’s time will turn even more heads — and confirm head coach Ryan Nelsen might actually be turning the Reds into a side the BMO Field faithful can once again be proud of.

TFC RUMOUR BUILDS

A week after 4-2-3-1.com reported Maximiliano Urruti as the “young Designated Player” TFC president and general manager Kevin Payne is after, a source close to the situation confirmed to the Sun the Argentine striker could be announced as early as this week.

MARTINS TO SEATTLE

Like TFC’s Robert Earnshaw before him, Obafemi Martins could barely contain his excitement.

A little more than a week after Toronto’s newest striker spilled the beans on Twitter that he was with the Reds on their way to Vancouver, Martins took to the social media site to declare his allegiance to his newest club: The Seattle Sounders.

“I look forward to this new era in my career,” the Nigerian international wrote. “I also look forward to (meeting) my new teammates and the Sounders FC fans, my new family.”

The 28-year-old forward unofficially joins Seattle after stints with Inter Milan, Newcastle, Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan, Birmingham City and most recently Levante, of Spain.

Reports out of Spain suggested Martins went as far as to pay his own $4-million buyout clause to be released from the Spanish side.

“This is so difficult for me to do, but I really do love my fans,” Martins said. “I will always cherish the time I played here.”

On Monday, Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer would only offer a small teaser.

“It’s possible that we may have a new forward coming into the team at some point here in the near future.”

The move would seem an immediate replacement for Seattle’s Fredy Montero, 25, who the Sounders sent on loan to Colombia’s Millonarios during the winter.

The New York Red Bulls left back endured quite possibly the worst two minutes by a defender in MLS history Sunday night in San Jose.

With minutes remaining, the Costa Rican international produced a blatant handball inside the area in the 89th minute with the game level.

What happened on the ensuing penalty was unthinkable.

After it looked as though Red Bulls ’keeper Luis Robles had saved Chris Wondolowski’s game-winning attempt, referee Ricardo Salazar ordered last season’s Golden Boot winner to re-take the kick to the dismay of the visitors.

But replays showed Miller had encroached a good three metres into the area well before Wondolowski’s miss, giving the ’Quakes a second chance from the spot, which Wondo buried to grab a come-from-behind 2-1 win.

Almost as startling as Miller’s moment of madness was New York’s Tim Cahill voicing his displeasure with Salazar via Twitter following the match.

MLS NOTES

Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena confirmed Monday that Landon Donovan will return from a self-imposed exile on March 25. The reigning MLS champions are in Toronto on March 30, which could be Donovan’s first match back after taking some time away from the game ... For the first time in league history, all three Canadian teams won on the same day when the Vancouver Whitecaps topped the Columbus Crew and Montreal Impact won in Portland on Saturday.

Made evident by the fact next to none of the 26,000 inside the Rogers Centre left their seat before full-time Saturday, TFC’s first league win in 234 days represented a potential turning point for those who have been with the club since day one.

“It did feel like something more,” TFC winger John Bostock said following his first MLS match. “On paper it’s a league win, but for us it’s a starting point.

“Last week we were unlucky not to come away from Vancouver with anything. We felt like if just got one win under our belt we could really gain some momentum.”

It bears repeating one last time: Saturday’s result snapped a 15-match league winless run dating back to last year, a streak that’s only slightly worse than the nine consecutive losses the Reds started 2012 with.

Compare it to whatever you will — Phil Kessel’s goal drought, the Raptors losing 12 of 13 this season,